Comatose
by CloveEngland
Summary: Royalty are supposed to be indestructible. So when Blair starts to crumble, a hollow shell hiding behind her steadfast position as Queen B, Chuck suggests she take a vacation away from all the drama. But when things take a wild turn and tragedy strikes; will the Queen fall? (Chair, Serena x Blair friendship, Dan x Serena) *mostly Blair-centric*


**Trying a little Gossip Girl drama~ Enjoy!**

_Heavy is the head that wears the crown;_

_Don't let the greatness get you down._

It was no secret that Blair Waldorf was born to be some sort of a queen. She had the grace, poise, elegance, manners, and all the other necessary aspects that came with being a queenly figure. She also had a strong sense of authority, and always knew how to get many different people with many different personalities to eat out of the palm of her hand. Not to mention the fact that she was always able to deal with the people who dared to threaten her precious throne and crown. Even when she got thrown out of her place, she could achieve it again before anyone had the chance to say, "The Queen has fallen!"

However, among all naturally-born rulers and rulers who clawed their way up, like Jenny Humphrey, there were some unspoken, simply _known _rules. One was that their battles always had to be sneaky, manipulative, and hidden from the naked eye of the public. No cat fights, fist fights… the physical stuff had to be kept far from the keen eyes of the people. Another was that civility was a must, with the subjects and with the other rulers, even when in battle. Barbarians aren't common today for a reason; their messy tactics always fell through. But perhaps one of the most important rules was that a ruler was never to break, never to show weakness. They were a symbol of strength. If they fell, the people fell, and riots would pop up everywhere. No; rulers like Blair Waldorf couldn't risk their people turning on them. That's why they always had to be one step ahead of the game, and had to check each day that the cork on their emotional bottle was screwed in tight.

Now, it sounds harsh when it's put in that particular way. But it didn't mean they _couldn't _break down _ever. _They simply couldn't do it in public. See, it's all about the public. It's hard to understand that people who are regarded highly are still normal humans too. Everyone knows that; they just don't seem to care, or deep down, they don't believe it. The drama; even though it could happen to the simplest of us, if it happens to someone regarded so highly, it's severity seemed to be increased tenfold. That's why it seemed so dangerous to do anything mildly wrong in front of the people.

Out of all of the queens that milled around the Upper East Side and, now it appeared Brooklyn was included as well, Blair was by far the mightiest. It wasn't that she had the most subjects or that she was a kind ruler who everyone loved necessarily; it was just that she was the best at playing their game. She ruled with an iron fist, never betrayed weakness, always won her battles, and whenever she slipped up, she somehow ended up making the people love her again without waiting it out in a bomb bunker.

But being openly strong for so long took its toll on her, as it did many others before her who never seemed to fail. The constant paranoia and alertness added strain and stress to her, physically, mentally, and emotionally; the bulimia was gone but there was talk of anorexia setting in; it wasn't that she wanted to starve herself, but that every time she ate, she felt nauseated; her brain was still as quick and clever as ever, but her headaches and stress over seemingly every day things was increasing each day; and finally, she was slipping into a darkness that she couldn't control. The bottle wasn't big enough; it was a black hole. It sucked that little bottle of emotions right into its depths, and her along with it. And it _scared _her. But she prevailed over the people; they didn't notice a thing; she continued to shine as brightly as the sun. After all, people always claim that the sun will one day burn out, but it hasn't yet, now has it?

She was thankful for the obliviousness of the people. Had any of them really looked at her face, pale and sunken under all that makeup, or looked into her eyes, glassy and dim, unlike their once bright glow and shining splendor, they would've known that she wasn't okay. None of them did, or so she thought. Chuck, Serena, Dan, and Eric all saw it. Lily, Eleanor, and Dorota saw it. Nate Archibald sometimes paused to gaze at her, confused, for this wasn't the Blair he once knew; but unlike the aforementioned people, he never stopped to wonder what was wrong, and continued with his life as though she was perfectly fine.

Summer came, and Blair hardly left her room. She would only leave for an occasional lunch with her minions; she couldn't risk losing them. Serena visited her sometimes, begging her to get out of bed and go shopping with her, or to come over to chat with her, Dan, and Chuck. But Blair would just politely refuse, claim that she was tired, and fall silent until Serena finally gave up and left.

Dan came to visit her once, too. He sat at her bedside and they made small talk, chit-chatting about little things like a new restaurant that had opened up, or the most recent blast on Gossip Girl, or the recent news on who people tried to predict the next queen would be. Blair snorted at all of the guesses; she didn't know who she was going to choose as her successor yet, but she knew for a fact that it would not be any of the people he listed. He even went out of his way to mention that Serena was worried sick about her. She brushed it off. Blair didn't want sympathy. She'd learned to accept it from Serena, one of the only people she would ever open up to, but even so, she didn't want it so obviously. Eventually, Dan too left her to her own devices, and she could get back to lying on her bed and watching Audrey Hepburn movies, coming out only for meals Dorota prepared for her, although she hardly ate those.

For the longest time, Chuck didn't bother to visit her. She assumed he didn't care about her or what she was going through, but on the contrary, it was because he was too worried, and he cared too much. He didn't want to see her when she was in such a state. He wanted to help her, but thinking of her wasting body curled up on that huge bed of hers that made her look far too small, he just couldn't go to her. But he was worried out of his mind, and even he began to deteriorate just as she had, unable to eat, unable to sleep properly, but somehow still plowing through life with the determination that she had lost.

He had no intentions of visiting her at all, in fact, until Serena came up to him one day, looking defeated and sighing. She sat down next to him and he gave her a curious look.

"Visited Blair again, did you?" he drawled calmly, his eyes searching her forlorn face. She gave him a nod, her expression bitter as she leaned her head back on the chair she was sitting on. She let out another long sigh and shook her head.

"She's messed up, Chuck," Serena murmured, her voice sounding quiet and weak as she absentmindedly played with a strand of blonde hair. "I just don't know what to do this time. Normally I can talk to her a little bit, she might cry, but then her resilience brings her right out of her pit. This time… it's not working. This is the worst she's ever been." She fixed Chuck with a curious look, her eyes searching him, as though she were analyzing him.

"Maybe…" she said softly, "maybe you could try talking to her, Chuck. You might be just what she needs to pull her out of this. I know you want to hide from it, or let her deal with it on her own, but she can't get anywhere without help, and I think you're the only one who can help her at this point."

Chuck didn't say anything in response. He just stared at her for a moment longer. He made a movement that looked like a nod, and stood up, brushing down his suit to smooth out the wrinkles, and made to go and see Blair for the first time in months. Serena smiled as he left. She was certain that he was exactly what Blair needed, but he had to realize it for himself before he finally went to talk to the poor brunette.

When Chuck got to the Waldorf penthouse, he was greeted with Dorota carrying a plate out to the kitchen. She smiled at him as he walked in, seeming similar to Serena in the sense that she wanted him to see Blair. "Miss Blair in bedroom," she said quietly. "Watch movie. All she does anymore, watch Audrey movie." The maid shook her head as she walked away, and Chuck headed to Blair's room, bracing himself for the sight he was about to see.

He walked in to see Blair sitting upright in her bed, the covers tucked up as far as they could go on her. She was staring at a TV, on which an Audrey Hepburn movie was playing, of course. Her face was pale, all of the makeup that hid her sinking features wiped off, revealing her far-too-defined cheekbones and the dark circles around her eyes. Her hair was strewn haphazardly around her face, fly-away hairs untamed and doing just that; flying away, or so it appeared. She was too thin, her collar bones jutting out and her shoulders doing the same. Chuck was sure that if she took her tank top off, he would be able to see her ribs, and a sunken stomach.

"Chuck," she said softly, her small voice barely reaching his ears. His heart broke and he walked toward her, trying to hide how upset he really was by putting his typical, cool expression on his features.

"Blair…" he murmured. "Mind if I sit with you?" She shook her head, and he sat on her bed next to her, turning his gaze to the old movie. "So… you've just been sitting around watching Audrey?" She responded once more with a simple nod. He nodded as well. "Sounds like you've been having fun." He commented in a genuine tone, neither teasing nor appraising. Blair smiled a little but said nothing. This was what she liked about Chuck. He wanted to help her like everyone else, but he didn't force his opinions on her like Dan and Serena. He didn't package up all of his sympathy and pity and hand it to her like a Christmas present; no, he simply gave her the shoulder she needed to cry on, or the arms she needed to keep her from collapsing.

After a few minutes, she ended up lying with her head on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders and he was stroking her hair gently. She snuggled into him happily, welcoming and relishing in the warmth that had been hidden from her for the past few months. She closed her eyes, smiling, and mumbled, "I'm lost, Chuck." Her voice was quiet and weak, so unlike the Blair he was used to. "I don't know what to do. I just don't have the energy to put up with Gossip Girl or keeping my place above my minions… it's tiring. God, I'm just so tired, all the time." She shook her head. "I just… want to sleep," she whispered. "I don't want to wake up and put up with everything."

Chuck frowned. She sounded awfully suicidal, and he didn't like it one bit. He forced himself not to tense up; Blair might react negatively if he tensed his muscles. He didn't want her to shut him out like everyone else. Instead, he forced himself to remain relaxed and said softly, "Maybe you need to get away from it all for a little bit. You have to take a break, somewhere where Gossip Girl won't find you. Just until you get back on your feet, that is. Everyone will think you're taking a vacation."

She smiled a little, sighing. "A vacation sounds nice," she murmured. "Get out of the city… yes, that's what I should do. Maybe I'll bring Serena with me," she mused, "We always go on vacations together." Chuck sighed as well after her, more of a sigh of relief than a contented sigh like hers had been, though. He nodded slightly to let her know that he was listening, and a few minutes later, realized that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled, closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in the rhythmic sound of Blair's soft breathing.

_Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times;_

_As long as you remember to turn on the light._

"Thanks, Chuck. I think I just needed someone to be there for me and not pester me about getting out into the city." Blair said as she stood outside in the chilly air with him. She had on a white skirt, a maroon cardigan and matching tights as well as white shoes and a matching headband with both of the colors. Over it she'd thrown on a red trench coat and was wearing white gloves. Despite all of the warm clothes she had covering majority of her body; she was still shivering due to her lack of body fat to keep her warm. She was all skin and bones now, the only thing holding her down from blowing away in the wind was the articles of clothing, or so it appeared.

He kissed her forehead and brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. He smiled gently at her and murmured, "Anything for you, darling." He planted a soft kiss on her lips before getting in his limo and driving off. Blair let out a soft sigh; the fresh air felt good, and she felt more awake than she had in a long time. Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly dialed Serena's number. Her friend seemed more than happy to talk to her, and they arranged to meet for lunch the next day. She then headed back into her penthouse and went back to her bed. But this time, she didn't intend to stay there, going in and out of fitful slumbers with the constant sound of movies playing in the background. She was Blair Waldorf, and after some time away from the city, she'd be just fine.

The next day, Blair went to lunch with Serena, just as planned. They went to a little café for lunch, one that Blair had suggested. It was small, and not too grand, but it was cute and the food was on point. They got a small, cozy booth by a fireplace in the back corner. Immediately they got their drink orders taken, and shortly after their food orders were taken as well. Once the waiter left them alone to get their food ready, Serena decided to spark up a conversation with Blair.

"So I see Chuck convinced you to get out of bed, huh?" She started tentatively, feeling as though she was tip-toeing around a stray dog that may or may not like her, or may or may not have rabies, and that if she said the wrong thing it would end in disaster, with Blair either fleeing or lashing out. But Blair simply grinned and gave her a little nod. She breathed a sigh of relief. The old Blair was slowly seeping back into the brunette.

"We didn't talk much," Blair said slowly, reflecting on the evening before, "We just… sat and enjoyed each other's company, I guess. He said I should get away from here for a little while, all the drama and such, just until school starts back up anyways. A vacation… we haven't taken one in a while, have we? I thought it might be something nice that the two of us could do."

Serena smiled and responded, "I think that's a great idea Blair! Where should we go? Paris? London? I've never been to Tokyo-,"

Blair interrupted, "Whoa, Serena, half of our summer is gone. What if we went to LA? We could go to the beach, maybe even go to Disney Land, and we wouldn't be stuck with the hassle of an international flight. Or we could take a road trip to Maryland or Virginia and go to the beach… somewhere nearby but far from the eyes of Gossip Girl."

"I think those are all great ideas, Blair." Serena said, smiling brightly, her excitement beginning to bubble up even higher than it already was. "Why don't we go with the road trip? Just the two of us; I think that'd be fun." Blair nodded, and then the waiter brought their food to them. After they'd finished eating, they settled the date of their departure and laid out all of the plans for their trip to the beach. Everyone was hopeful; this relaxing trip was sure to get Blair Waldorf back on her feet and fully functioning. Oh, how wrong they all were.

_Never take your eyes off of the road;_

_You never know when you might crash._

"Come on Serena," Blair whined. "Can't you play _good _music?" They were sitting in a car, headed toward Maryland, toward the beach. They were in Philadelphia, PA at the time and had been in the car for hours already. Luckily, they were about half way through their trip to the south. Serena rolled her eyes at Blair's comment on her music choice.

"Taylor Swift is good! You're the one who doesn't know what good music is. I don't think you'd know what it is if it came up and bit you," Serena defended.

Blair laughed and said, "Sure she's good but not when you've been listening to her for the past… how many hours has it been now? I've lost count." Serena chuckled and consented, leaning in to change the music. As she did so, a car pulled out sharply in front of them. Blair shrieked Serena's name, but she looked up too late, and their car slammed into the one in front of them. The back tires of their car rose off the ground before falling back down with a crash. Their windshield had shattered and glass was flying everywhere. The car they'd hit was already driving away, leaving their car mangled; the front of it was destroyed.

"Blair… you okay?" Serena mumbled, checking herself over quickly. She had a few cuts from the glass, and was a bit dizzy from the whiplash, and a few nasty bruises were sure to form, but otherwise she was okay. She sighed. They were lucky. Looking over at the passenger seat, her breath hitched. "Blair!" she said urgently, shaking the brunette. The smaller girl was slumped over the dashboard. From the looks of it, her head had smashed into the window, her side of the car had been crushed in, and she had a nasty gash on her head. Blood was trickling down the side of her neck and also some was bubbling out of her mouth. That couldn't be good… unless her mouth was bleeding, she could be bleeding internally.

Serena fumbled with her phone for a moment, dialing 911 with shaky hands. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she screamed in frustration as it rang and rang and rang. Finally, someone picked up. The person sounded lazy, as if they didn't have a care in the world, and were simply a telemarketer or some other person with a job that required little to no work at all.

"911… what's your emergency?"

"I-I've been in a hit and run," Serena stuttered out, "on East… East Chestnut Street… My name is Serena Van der Woodsen… please, you have to help, my friend is bleeding and she's unconscious and our car is totaled and we're from New York City, the Upper East Side to be exact, and I don't know what to do and… and…" she was struggling to speak through her hysteria.

"Ma'am, please calm down." The woman said in an annoyed tone on the other end. "Hit 'n runs aren't usually that bad, hon; if the other car got away alright you're probably alright. Your friend's probably fine, you just try 'n apply some pressure to that head wound of hers, alright? We'll send some paramedics your way in about ten to fifteen minutes." With that, the line went dead.

"Ten to fifteen minutes?" Serena groaned, angry with the person on the phone, angry with the person who'd pulled out in front of them, but most of all, she was angry at herself. She quickly found some tissues and pressed them onto the gash on Blair's head, just as the woman had told her to do. Blair whimpered slightly, but then fell silent and unresponsive again. The next ten minutes felt like an eternity to Serena. The way she saw it, they were ten minutes during which Blair was dying, and she couldn't do anything but sit there and press some old travel tissues into her friend's head and hope and pray that she was fighting somewhere in that unconscious mind of hers.

After what felt like forever, the paramedics arrived. They pried the doors open and helped Serena out. One of them hoisted Blair out of the car and they lifted her up onto a stretcher. They began to check her vitals right then and there, and immediately the one who had first grabbed her got a horrified look on his face. He looked at the woman across from him and said, "We need to get a helicopter here, now." The woman nodded.

"Roger," she said, her tone very formal but also grim. She grabbed a walky-talky and buzzed into it, "We need a life-flight to New York City as soon as possible. We have a case of severe internal bleeding, major head trauma, and multiple broken bones. There's also the possibility of a broken neck and the possibility of major whiplash damage."

"Life-flight," Serena choked out, her eyes wide as her face paled. A nurse walked over to her and put and hand on her shoulder, probably in some attempt to calm her down. It was obvious that Serena was shaken up and the nurse was desperate to help her, as was her job.

"Don't worry kid, we just want her in a good, ready hospital and since you two live in New York City, we feel it'd be best to take her there. We life-flight people all the time to and from all different places and we've saved countless lives. Your friend here is going to be just fine honey; we won't let her die on us. You can fly with us if you want. After all, you're going to need to get checked up too and I doubt you want to be stranded in the middle of Pennsylvania, huh?"

"Y-yeah," Serena forced out, "yes, thank you."

They were then herded into the ambulance and sped off to the nearest helicopter landing. It was all a blur to Serena; getting out of the ambulance and into the helicopter, never taking her eyes off of her best friend, lying unconscious on a stretcher, strapped in like she was in a mental institution. The flight seemed long, too long, and it seemed too far from those helicopter doors to those back ER doors, and too far from those back ER doors to the damn operating room, where the doors were slammed shut in her face and her best friend was taken into immediate surgery for a blood transfusion and stitches and God knows what else.

The nurse who had tried to comfort Serena earlier took her arm gently and led her to a different room, sitting her down on a check-up table and collecting the things needed to take her vitals. "You don't want to watch a blood transfusion anyways," the nurse attempted to joke, "those surgeons are trained to not vomit at the sight of that stuff, but the one time I saw it? Whew, I was out of commission for days!" Serena forced a smile, trying to be appreciative of the nurse's kindness, but she just couldn't bring herself to think of anything other than her fear and worry.

"You know, dear," the nurse murmured while taking her blood pressure, "It's okay to be upset. Of course I'm trying to cheer you up, but you don't have to act happy for my sake. I don't know what I would do if something like this happened to my best friend, or my sisters. You can be in mourning if you want to." Serena looked at her and thanked her quietly.

After all of her other vitals had been checked, the nurse stood back. "Well my dear, you got lucky. You're free to go whenever you want, though I get the feeling you're going to be staying for a while. If you need anything, you can just ask for me. My name's Susan." She smiled at Serena and left the room after that.

She'd been right; Serena wasn't leaving. She trailed out to the waiting room and picked up her phone, dialing Chuck first. Following him she called Dan, Eleanor, Dorota, and then her own family, informing all of them of what had happened. As soon as she hung up, Chuck came in, looking haphazard. He rushed over to Serena and sat down next to her.

"Where is she? How is she? What happened, Serena?"

Serena looked at him and said, "We were in a hit and run near Philadelphia… some guy pulled out right in front of us and slammed into Blair's side. She's in surgery right now; she needs stitches, blood, she has some pretty bad broken bones, and they need to patch the sources of the internal bleeding. It's not looking good, Chuck." She shook her head and groaned. "It's entirely my fault. If I'd only paid better attention…"

"Hey," Chuck said quietly, "it's not your fault. It's that asshole's fault for pulling out in front of you and hitting you. And if we're going that deep into it, then technically it's my fault. I was the one who suggested she go on a vacation to get away from all the stress. I was the one who said she should leave, and now look. She's in the hospital, and she could die… because of _me._"

Serena shook her head. "Let's not blame ourselves, each other, or anyone. We need to be strong for Blair, and if we're fighting amongst ourselves, we can't be. This is about her now… not us. We can't put the pity on ourselves."

Chuck nodded in agreement. Dan entered a few moments later and pulled Serena into a hug. He was followed by Eleanor and Dorota. Eleanor claimed she had an important fashion show to get to, and Dorota said she'd call her if there was any news of Blair. Lily entered shortly after Eleanor left with Eric, Rufus, and Jenny. Jenny sat across from Serena. Lily and Rufus sat down with Eric off to one side. Jenny shook her head.

"Blair and I have had so many differences…" she whispered, her voice trembling as she shook her head and looked at Serena. "I never wanted anything like this to happen to her. Sometimes, she seemed like my friend. I know that Blair is the real Blair. The one who I don't like is her façade that she puts up for the people around her. Such a wonderful person stands behind that armor… why do the worst things happen to the best people?"

Her question was left unanswered as everyone fell into a tense silence, waiting, waiting for information on Blair. An hour passed, and there was still nothing. Lily and Rufus had gone to get coffee and hadn't returned. Eric was now sitting next to Jenny, across from Serena, Chuck, and Dan. He was staring at his hands, thinking about Blair and all she'd done for his family in the long run. They were all beginning to lose hope by this point, and Eric didn't know how the others felt, but he was starting to convince himself that Blair was dead.

Just then, a tired-looking doctor walked over to them. His jacket had sprinkles of blood on it, and it looked as though he'd just come out of the operating room. He looked at the group of kids and took a deep breath.

"Are you all here for Blair Waldorf?"

Serena opened her mouth, but when the "yes" came out, it came from Chuck, not her, and he was standing, staring at the doctor with hopeful eyes.

"I have a bit of good news and a bit of bad news," the doctor said. "The good news is, your friend is stable and has been fully patched up. The bad news is she's in a coma. There's no telling how long this coma will be; we estimate two years at the most. We can only carry her so far, and comatose patients are the most unstable even while they're stable."

He eyed them all, feeling sorry at the sight of their crestfallen faces and said one last thing before walking away.

"If she doesn't pull out a fight now, she might not wake up at all."

**A/N so, how was it? o-o this is either going to be a two-shot or a chapter story. Let me know what you guys think it should be in reviews!**


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